On March 29, 2017 the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) in collaboration with Concordia University, has inaugurated its Art Hive in the Michel de la Chenelière International Atelier for Education and Art Therapy. This new facility for multidisciplinary creative projects is the 105th in the Art Hives Network, and the first one in a museum. Open to all, this art studio will be supervised and facilitated by an art therapist newly hired by the MMFA thanks to the support of the Rossy Family Foundation. The MMFA Art Hive is part of the extensive Rossy Art Therapy and Wellness Programme at the Museum.

Thomas Bastien, Interim Director of Education and Community Programmes at the Museum, said, “Thanks to the opening of this Art Hive and the addition of an art therapist to our team, our projects in health and wellness will continue to grow and flourish. Through these initiatives, the MMFA is continuing to set down roots in the community to provide a place where people are welcome to exchange, create and grow.”

A free creative experience for all

The MMFA’s Art Hive will serve as a place where all of the Museum’s clienteles — school and community groups, families and the general public — can come together to share ideas. It will take the form of a creative community studio supervised by an art therapist, with art materials provided free of charge. The Museum will provide traditional art supplies, such as brushes, paints, scissors and glue, and the Art Hive’s Honey Pot in Saint-Henri and Concordia’s new Centre for Creative Reuse (CUCCR) will contribute household and institutional recycled supplies: fabric, wood, metal, CDs, beads, buttons, and all kinds of paper.

A wide range of activities can be expected at the Art Hive, from unravelling old wool sweaters in order to knit something new, building a sculpture from recycled materials, drawing, sewing and painting. This welcoming, intergenerational space is also a place where participants can meet to discuss, perform or exhibit. The Art Hive is a user-friendly place that participants can re-organize to meet their needs.

The Hive features made-to-measure work surfaces and cupboards, some of which are shaped like a honeycomb that were designed and created by the MMFA’s Exhibitions Production team under the supervision of Sandra Gagné.

Schedules adapted to the needs of the Museum’s audiences

The Art Hive’s schedule is designed to be as accessible as possible so that everyone can participate in the activities. It will be flexible and adapted in response to demand. At first, the Art Hive will be open two days a week: Wednesdays from 3 to 8 p.m. and Sundays from 1 to 4 p.m.

Time slots will be reserved for the participants in workshops organized by the hundreds of community organizations that regularly use the Museum as part of the Sharing the Museum programme. Some periods are also available for participants from community groups that would like to come to the Museum on their own and receive guidance from an art therapist.

An art therapist’s expertise at the Museum

Thanks to the support of the Rossy Family Foundation, art therapist Stephen Legari (ATR, AATQ) will join the Museum’s staff in April 2017 as Educational Programmes Officer – Art Therapy to oversee the Art Hive’s operations.His mandate will be to develop and facilitate activities in the Art Hive as well as to liaise with partner organizations in the communities. He will supervise all the research projects developed at the Museum as part of art therapy and wellness initiatives, as well as supervising the interns from Concordia’s art therapy programme and their activities.

Funded by:

The Rossy Art Therapy and Wellness Programme at the Museum, including the Art Hive, is made possible through the major support of the Rossy Family Foundation. The MMFA also extends its sincere thanks to its major patron Michel de la Chenelière, who has made it possible to the Museum to prioritize education and art therapy on an on-going basis.

The Museum would also like to thank Bell and the J.A. DeSève Foundation for their major support of the Sharing the Museum programme and DeSerres for providing art supplies used in all the Museum’s workshops, including the Art Hive.